Sean O'Keefe

O'Keefe, is the 17th person in Syracuse University history to hold the title of University Professor. A longtime public administrator, national security expert and aerospace industry executive, O'Keefe has served in several top leadership positions in the U.S. government, higher education and industry. He has been associated with the Maxwell School and Syracuse University for many years beginning as a graduate student, as a teacher, advisory board chairman, and advocate.

Along with the faculty appointments, O'Keefe will play a leadership role in building Maxwell's partnership with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), including research collaboration, expanding programming and executive education.

O'Keefe is the former chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Airbus Group Inc. Immediately prior to joining Airbus, O'Keefe served as a vice president of the General Electric Company following his service as chancellor of Louisiana State University. On four separate occasions, O'Keefe served as a presidential appointee. Prior to leading LSU, he was administrator of NASA. Earlier, he was deputy assistant to the president and deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget at the White House. He also served as secretary of the Navy, following service as comptroller and CFO of the Defense Department. He began his career after graduate studies at Maxwell as a member of the inaugural class of Presidential Management Intern program, and later joined the US Senate Appropriations Committee staff. Between public service appointments, O'Keefe has held faculty posts at LSU, Penn State University and the Maxwell School, where he served as director of the National Security Studies Program and as Louis A. Bantle Chair of Business and Government.

In 1993, President Bush and Secretary Cheney presented O'Keefe the Distinguished Public Service Award. He was the 1999 faculty recipient of the Syracuse University Chancellor's Award for Public Service; recipient of the Department of Navy's Public Service Award in December 2000; and has been awarded honorary doctorate degrees from several prestigious educational institutions. In March 2003 and 2004, he was recognized and honored by the Irish American Magazine as one of the Top 100 Irish Americans.